Works in Progress: Plans and Realities on Soviet Farms, 1930-1963 (Yale Agrarian Studies

Yale Agrarian Studies Series

by Jenny Leigh Smith

What really caused the failure of the Soviet Union’s ambitious plans to modernize and industrialize its agricultural system?

This book is the first to investigate the gap between the plans and the reality of the Soviet Union’s mid-twentieth-century project to industrialize and modernize its agricultural system. Historians agree that the project failed agriculture was inefficient, unpredictable, and environmentally devastating for the entire Soviet period. Yet assigning the blame exclusively to Soviet planners would be off the mark. The real story is much more complicated and interesting, Jenny Leigh Smith reveals in this deeply researched book. Using case studies from five Soviet regions, she acknowledges hubris and shortsightedness where it occurred but also gives fair consideration to the difficulties encountered and the successes—however modest—that were achieved.

287 pages, Hardcover

First published October 28, 2014

Reviews

[kate s. · Rating 3 out of 5]

an eye-catching look into a precise rarely-mentioned period of history. as an american reader, i, admittedly, don't know very much at all about the soviet union and especially not what it was like to live under it. this book provides a thorough insight into that world that i found enjoyable. perhaps one or two of the chapters were difficult to get through (just because of a lack of interest on my part -- not a fault of the writing) but otherwise, this was a pleasant journey.